The use of AI by asset managers in their sales and marketing to financial advisors is not expected to happen at pace, according to a new report.
While 59% of asset managers who took part in a poll by Fuse Research Network said they use AI in any of their intermediary distribution-related data initiatives, only 11% of firms describe their AI use in any distribution data effort as “modest” or “heavy.”
Usage is generally focused on predictive analytics, lead generation, segmentation of advisors, and matching product opportunities to prospects.
“Asset managers are still years away from seeing ChatGPT and other Generative AI tools have a transformative effect on their data-driven sales strategies. In the meantime, Gen AI is producing modest but welcome boosts to productivity,” said Loren Fox, Director of Research at FUSE Research Network and the project leader of the survey.
The survey included 26 asset managers with $5.1 trillion in aggregate intermediary assets and revealed that there are significant obstacles to them going deeper with their AI usage for sales and marketing to advisors.
“Many asset managers still don’t have the large, clean, organized data sets required to use Gen AI. It’s expensive to adapt Gen AI tools to work with a firm’s data. And many asset managers lack the personnel that know how to apply AI to their data,” added Fox.
Gaining these data sets requires experienced personnel and investment and the report found that just 41% of firms employ data scientists including 50% of the larger firms with at least $200 billion in intermediary assets and 29% among smaller firms. However, a quarter of firms said they plan to hire data scientists in the next 12 months.
“Asset managers have made progress in recent years in applying data to intermediary sales and
marketing. But the industry is in the early stages of taking the next step forward and adding AI to
the mix. That will come, but it’s clearly a few years away,” concluded Fox.
An 86-year-old from Dallas tried to withdraw funds from his account, but Edward Jones invoked a FINRA-backed temporary lockout before he eventually left for Merrill Lynch.
The boutique practice brings $700 million in client assets and opens a new Northeast office for the California-headquartered firm.
Founder-led 32 North Wealth brings four partners to the hybrid RIA while extending its record of attracting Wells Fargo breakaways.
Firm admits repeated Bank Secrecy Act violations after regulators say it missed the same kind of wire-monitoring failures flagged in 2018.
The proposals extend a wave of regulatory relief in 2026 that has already loosened capital requirements for community banks.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
